Maria Smilios, "The Black Angels: The Untold Story of the Nurses Who Helped Cure Tuberculosis" (G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2023)
New York City, 1929. A sanatorium, a deadly disease, and a dire nursing shortage.\nIn the pre-antibiotic days when tuber\xadculosis stirred people\u2019s darkest fears, killing one in seven, white nurses at Sea View, New York\u2019s largest municipal hospital, began quitting en masse. Desperate to avert a public health crisis, city officials summoned Black southern nurses, luring them with promises of good pay, a career, and an escape from the stric\xadtures of Jim Crow. But after arriving, they found themselves on an isolated hilltop in the remote borough of Staten Island, yet again confronting racism and consigned to a woefully understaffed sanatorium, dubbed \u201cthe pest house,\u201d where it was said that \u201cno one left alive.\u201d\nSpanning the Great Depression and moving through World War II and beyond, this remarkable true story follows the intrepid young women known by their patients as the \u201cBlack Angels.\u201d For twenty years, they risked their lives work\xading under appalling conditions while caring for New York\u2019s poorest residents, who languished in wards, waiting to die, or became guinea pigs for experimental surgeries and often deadly drugs. But despite their major role in desegregating the New York City hospital system\u2014and their vital work in helping to find the cure for tuberculo\xadsis at Sea View\u2014these nurses were completely erased from history. Maria Smilios' book\xa0The Black Angels: The Untold Story of the Nurses Who Helped Cure Tuberculosis\xa0(G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2023) recovers the voices of these extraordinary women and puts them at the center of this riveting story, celebrating their legacy and spirit of survival. New York City, 1929. A sanatorium, a deadly disease, and a dire nursing shortage.\nIn the pre-antibiotic days when tuber\xadculosis stirred people\u2019s darkest fears, killing one in seven, white nurses at Sea View, New York\u2019s largest municipal hospital, began quitting en masse. Desperate to avert a public health crisis, city officials summoned Black southern nurses, luring them with promises of good pay, a career, and an escape from the stric\xadtures of Jim Crow. But after arriving, they found themselves on an isolated hilltop in the remote borough of Staten Island, yet again confronting racism and consigned to a woefully understaffed sanatorium, dubbed \u201cthe pest house,\u201d where it was said that \u201cno one left alive.\u201d\nSpanning the Great Depression and moving through World War II and beyond, this remarkable true story follows the intrepid young women known by their patients as the \u201cBlack Angels.\u201d For twenty years, they risked their lives work\xading under appalling conditions while caring for New York\u2019s poorest residents, who languished in wards, waiting to die, or became guinea pigs for experimental surgeries and often deadly drugs. But despite their major role in desegregating the New York City hospital system\u2014and their vital work in helping to find the cure for tuberculo\xadsis at Sea View\u2014these nurses were completely erased from history.\xa0The Black Angels\xa0recovers the voices of these extraordinary women and puts them at the center of this riveting story, celebrating their legacy and spirit of survival.\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices\nSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/gender-studies